NSN Founder Rand Beers Speaks at Dartmouth on National Security Challenges
NSN Founder Rand Beers Speaks at Dartmouth on National Security Challenges
Official: Focus on Security Threats
November 6, 2015 | Valley News
Hanover — One of the nation’s most experienced counterterrorism officials, who held senior positions under five Republican and Democrat presidents, told a Dartmouth College audience Thursday that Russia and China currently pose bigger security challenges than terrorism.
Moreover, Rand Beers contended, “we really don’t pay enough attention to other serious existential threats — accelerated climate change, global pandemics such as Ebola and disruptive solar weather events.
“Last week, security officials met in the White House to discuss the impact, or potential impact, of serious space weather like solar flares that have the potential to wipe out entire electricity generating and distribution systems. We simply don’t have the capacity in this country at present to replace such systems in a short period.”
Beers, a 1964 Dartmouth graduate who once served as acting secretary of Homeland Security in addition to several high-level posts in the State Department and National Security Agency, participated in a conversational exchange with Daniel Benjamin, director of the college’s Dickey Center, which, together with the Dartmouth Uniformed Services Alumni, sponsored the event. The focus was on the innumerable challenges currently facing national security.
Crafted by Cornershop
